Transcript
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In this lesson, I'll show you how to
talk about time correctly and easily in
English. Specifically, we'll be looking
at some prepositions of time, and also
some expressions of time. Okay? And
these expressions are used very
frequently. So, let's see what they are.
All right. So, I'm going to read you a
sentence, and after that there are four
endings. Maybe they're right, and maybe
they're wrong — so you tell me what's
what. Okay? "Let's meet in the
morning.", "Let's meet in the
afternoon.", "Let's meet in the
evening.", "Let's meet in the night."
So, think about it. Were they correct?
Was anything wrong? Might be right;
might be wrong. Tell me what you think
right away, because you need to know
this kind of instinctively. And it's not
so obvious. Okay? So, I'm going to tell
you what the answer is. Actually, there
is one wrong here, and it's this one. We
do not say: "in the night"; we say: "in
the morning", "in the afternoon", "in
the evening", but we do not say: "in the
night". We say, what? "at night". "Let's
meet at night." Why? Why is it
different? I don't know. That's how it
is. Okay? These are expressions, and
that one is an exception. All right? So,
we say it differently from the other
ones. There is no particular reason.
Sometimes you just have to learn things
by heart, like here. Okay?
Now, let's look at another example. "I
was tired this morning.", "I was tired
this afternoon.", "I was tired this
evening.", "I was tired this night."
Were those all okay? Anything wrong
there? What do you think? Well, there is
something wrong there. And guess what?
It's this one. Okay? Again, so we do not
say: "I was tired this night." We say:
"I was tired tonight." Okay? So, there
again, we see that "night" is an
exception. So, we can say: "this
morning", "this afternoon", "this
evening", but we can't say — we cannot
say: "this night". At that point, we
change it; we use a different
expression, which is: "tonight". Okay?
Again, why? Why? Sometimes in English we
say: "Why? Because the sky is so high",
which means there is no particular
reason. It's just the way it is. Okay?
All right. Let's take another one. "He
called yesterday morning.", "He called
yesterday afternoon.", "He called
yesterday evening.", "He called
yesterday night." So, are those okay or
is there a problem? What do you think?
Well, guess what? It's this one again.
Hey, did you see a pattern, there? Okay.
So, what do we say? We do say:
"yesterday morning", we do say:
"yesterday afternoon", we do say:
"yesterday evening", but then we say:
"last night". "He called last night."
Now, we use that with "night", but we
don't say: "last morning". Okay? We
don't usually say... use "last" with the
other ones, and certainly not in North
American English. Okay?
But we saw in each of these cases that
"night" was an exception, and that you
had to learn a different expression for
"night". Okay? So, just repeat after me,
because one of the ways of learning is
to hear it; another way to learn... to
remember is to write it. Okay? And
another way to say... remember is to say
it. So, let's try to do some of these
things. Okay? After a while, your ears
will tell you that: "No, that doesn't
sound right." Just like in your own
language. But, now, English is one of
your languages. So, let's do it. Ready?
"In the morning", "in the afternoon",
"in the evening", "at night"; "this
morning", "this afternoon", "this
evening", "tonight"; "yesterday
morning", "yesterday afternoon",
"yesterday evening", "last night". Okay?
Got those? All right. Let's look at a
few more.
All right. So, the first one: "See you
tomorrow morning.", "See you tomorrow
afternoon.", "See you tomorrow
evening.", "See you tomorrow night." Are
these okay? Any problems? Anything we
should change? Is anything an exception?
Think about it. Okay? So, you know what?
These are all fine. These are okay. All
right? And why is it an exception?
Because, usually, we were saying that
"night" has a different use; but in this
case, it's actually okay to say:
"tomorrow morning", "tomorrow
afternoon", "tomorrow evening",
"tomorrow night". Okay? It wasn't like
what we saw before with "yesterday" or
with "this". All right? So, these are
fine, and that's why it's kind of an
exception.
All right. Now, we come to a little bit
of a situation with the prepositions.
Now, you remember I had told you that we
say: "in the morning", "in the
afternoon", "in the evening", and "at
night" — correct? We just learned that;
we just reviewed that. But what happens
if you have the day mentioned as well?
Something different. So, let's look at
the options. Do we say: "in Tuesday
morning", "at Tuesday morning", or "on
Tuesday morning"? Or: "afternoon", or
"evening", or "night". Okay? Well,
there's only one correct possibility
here, and that is this one. Okay? We
cannot say: "in Tuesday", just like we
cannot say: "in Tuesday" or "at Tuesday"
— we need to only say: "on Tuesday".
Right? Whenever we are talking about a
day or a date, we say: "on". So, even if
you have, after that, mentioned:
"morning", "afternoon", "evening" or
"night" — what's more important is not
that expression: "in the morning", but
this expression: "on" plus the day.
Okay? So, in this case, it changes a
little bit. All right? So, we say: "on
Tuesday morning", "on Tuesday
afternoon", "on Thursday evening", "on
Friday night". Okay? So, keep that in
mind — that even though we had the
expressions: "in the morning", "in the
afternoon", "in the evening", and "at
night", as soon as we mention the day,
we're going to use the preposition "on".
All right? Good.
And, now, the last expression; something
that's used very often: "Good morning.",
"Good afternoon.", "Good evening.",
"Good night." Okay? So, those are fine
as expressions. So, why...? Why are they
here on the board? Because there is a
slight difference in the way that we use
them. And the difference is this. Do you
know what the difference is? Okay. I'll
tell you. So, these three: "Good
morning.", "Good afternoon.", "Good
evening." — these are all like saying:
"Hello" at that particular time of day.
So, when you arrive somewhere, let's say
— okay? — and you see someone. Okay? You
come to work in the morning, you say:
"Hey. Good morning." It's like a way of
saying: "Hi", but in the morning. And
you go to... You meet someone for lunch,
and it's a formal situation, and you
say: "Good afternoon." Okay? Or you call
an office and you're trying to be very
polite to the receptionist, and you say:
"Good afternoon. May I speak to Mr.
Johnson, please?" Okay? So, again, it's
a way of saying: "Hi". But another way;
another more formal greeting. You go to
a restaurant and the manager asks you...
says to you: "Good evening, sir. Can I
get you a table?" And you say: "Yes,
please." So, "Good evening" is also
another way that that person said "Hi"
to you, when you arrive somewhere. Okay?
But let's say now it's a... it's later,
it's even later at night and somebody
goes to a bar, and he walks in and the
bartender says: "Good night." Is that
okay? No. So, "Good night" is not used
to say "Hello", even if it is night.
"Good night" is only used when somebody
leaves or sleeps. Okay? So, we do not
say: "Good night", even if it is night,
to say: "Hi". So, if it's night and you
go to your friend's house, you don't
say: "Hey. Good night." No. You can't do
that when you first walk in. All right?
So, it's not a greeting that you use
when you first meet somebody. But at the
end of the night, or whenever you're
leaving, you can say to him: "Okay. Take
care. Good night." So, if you're not
going to see him or her for the rest of
the night, then you can say: "Good
night." And another way that's used
very, very frequently is when someone is
going to sleep, let's say most...
usually parents and children. Okay? So,
before the child goes to sleep, the
parents gave him or her a kiss, and say:
"Okay, sweetheart. Good night." And then
they put off the light, and they hope
that the child will sleep all night
long. Okay? So, that's another way that
we say: "Good night." And sometimes with
children, we also add other things,
like: "Sweet dreams", and things like
that. Okay? But the main difference here
is that these can be used as greetings
when you arrive somewhere as a way to
say "Hi"; and this one is when you're
leaving, or when someone is about to go
to sleep, and it's a way of saying:
"Bye". Okay? So, these are some of the
expressions. Now let's check how much
you remember of what we learned in this
lesson.
All right. So, there are seven sentences
on the board. Some of these are right;
some are wrong — you decide which. Okay?
All right. Number one: "I'll send the
email this afternoon." Is that right or
wrong? If you need to, you can pause the
video if you need a little more time to
think about it, but I'm going to go
ahead. All right? So: "I'll send the
email this afternoon" is correct. Okay?
So, that was fine. "Are we meeting in
Sunday?" Is that right or wrong? Pause
if you need to. This one is incorrect.
Should be: "on Sunday". And again, if it
said: "on Sunday morning", "on Sunday
afternoon", "on Sunday evening", "on
Sunday night". Okay? So, whether it just
says the day or it's followed by
"morning", "afternoon", "evening", or
"night" — you still need to use the
preposition "on". Okay? Good. Number
three: "The concert is tomorrow night."
Right or wrong? Okay. So, this one is?
Correct. All right? We can say:
"tomorrow morning", "tomorrow
afternoon", "tomorrow evening", and
"tomorrow night". All right.
Number four: "Good night. How are you?"
Is that correct? Okay. No, that is
wrong, because we cannot use: "Good
night" to say "Hello". Okay? You could
say: "Good morning. How are you?", "Good
afternoon, how are you?", "Good evening.
How are you?" But you either say: "Good
night" and then nothing after that —
okay? — or you'd have to say something
else here, and then say: "How are you?"
Okay? So, we say: "Good night" when?
When some... somebody is going to sleep.
Okay? Or it doesn't have to be a child;
it could also be an adult. Okay? They're
going to their room, you say: "Good
night." Okay? Or to your partner, you
can say: "Good night." And you also say
it, let's say, when you're leaving
someone's house and you've had dinner
and you've had... spent a nice evening
with them; now you're going home, you're
not going to see them again, so you say:
"All right. Thank you very much. Good
night." All right. That's that.
Next: "The snow looks beautiful in the
night." Is that right or wrong? So, that
one is wrong. It should be: "at night".
Okay? So, remember there we could say:
"in the morning", "in the afternoon",
"in the evening", but "at night". Okay?
You'll get used to it. Pretty... Really
soon, the rhythm of it will get into
your... your English brain. Okay? Good.
Number six: "My exam is in Monday
morning." Is that right or wrong? Okay?
That one is wrong. Again, like we said,
where? Here. Okay? The same here. It
should be: "on Monday morning". Okay?
So, whether we're saying just: "on
Monday", or we say: "on Monday morning",
"on Monday afternoon", "on Monday
evening", or "on Monday night". Okay?
Very good. And the last one, number
seven: "The parcel arrived yesterday
night." Is that right or wrong? Okay.
That one is also wrong. Because it
should be, what? What do we say instead
of: "yesterday night"? We say: "last
night". Okay? So, we do say: "yesterday
morning", we do say: "yesterday
afternoon", we do say: "yesterday
evening", but then we say: "last night".
Okay? "The parcel arrived last night."
Okay. So, I know it can be a little bit
confusing; but at the same time, you can
see that... — sorry — that there are
some patterns. Okay? So, once you
understand those patterns and you start
to apply them regularly, you will master
it. Okay? And make up your mind that now
that you spent the time to watch this
lesson, you're going to master this once
and for all. There are not that many
that I covered. And whatever we covered,
just make it a point to review them; if
necessary, watch the video again in the
course of this week; write some
sentences out, say some sentences out
loud, and try to use them this week.
Okay? So that you really review them a
lot. And to do some more practice, go to
our website: www.engvid.com. There, you
can do a quiz on this. And also
subscribe to my YouTube channel for lots
of other lessons that will help you
learn English more easily and quickly.
Thanks very much for watching. Bye for
now, and all the best with your English.
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About this lesson
Learn 6 common exceptions to the rules for prepositions of time in English.